“Fixing Luka” a winner at Scottish BAFTA Awards

“Fixing Luka,” based on director Jessica Ashman’s personal experience of growing up with an autistic brother, was named the winner in the animation category Sunday at the British Academy Scotland Awards (the Scottish BAFTAs).

Produced by Anna Odell at Digicult, Fixing Luka is a tale of hope, determination and acceptance.

In the stop-action film, Luka’s obsessive routines are played out under the anxious gaze of his sister Lucy. She thinks Luka needs fixing as every time she disturbs his routine, Luka falls apart. Literally.

One evening — battered by his springs and rejections — Lucy finally loses her patience and runs away. Stumbling in the forest, she discovers a clockwork soldier in a shack. When she manages to fix his head, Lucy thinks she’s found the solution to her problems at home.

Also nominated in the category were Stewart Comrie’s Battenberg — also a Digicult release produced by Odell — and Iain Gardner’s The Tannery (Axis Animation).

In Battenberg, hidden inside an abandoned house, a strange dual universe awaits an accidental visitor. Amid the disorientating, skewed decor, indiscernible creatures scuttle, jars teem with dark mystery and a shadowy presence resides with ambiguous motives, ready to lure us into its rooms of curiosity.

The Tannery tells how a fox encounters the ghost of a rabbit, and reflects on his responsibility as a hunter. The encounter develops into an unusual relationship — but when a hunter prepares a pelt for market, the fox discovers his connection with The Tannery.